An Angel of the First Degree
by Donner Dumott Schunard
Summary: ...A Delightfully Drag Fairy Tale. A take on Cinderella using AngelxCollins. An entry for speedrent.


I always wanted to eff up a fairy tale for RENT, so I decided on Cinderella. With Angel. I figured the fact Angel's a crossdresser makes it extra fun. So enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own RENT. Don't own "Cinderella." I'm well-aware I'm going to hell.

**An Angel of the First Degree: A Delightfully Drag Fairy Tale**

**By Donna**

Once upon a time, in a little city called New York, there was a boy. He wasn't anything special. He was an everyday child with Puerto Rican roots who enjoyed music and daydreaming. He never felt wonderful. He felt ugly, living with a stepmother from hell named Maureen and two stepbrothers, the anti-social Roger and rather questionable Mark, in a small loft. Maureen clearly preferred her other two sons over him (racist? Possibly.), investing in their interests (music and film, respectively). The only thing Maureen ever gave him was dirty work. Mainly, cleaning the cinders from their illegally put in wood stove. It made his already tan skin even darker and left his clothes filthy. No sooner was he brought into the family, which was a good five years ago, he became the, with no pun intended, black sheep.

The irony of this drama was in his name. Angel. This poor boy, whose name was that of perfection, lived far from it. But as Angel strayed from human ways, he strayed from the views of society, deep down.

This was evident one day, while he was on a run to get groceries, when he saw a flyer. It said, in curvy script, "The Coffin Family Would Like to Welcome You To The Fifteenth Annual Masquerade Ball. All are invited to attend a wonderful night of music, memories, and masks. Costumes are mandatory."

Angel smiled. "This is it!"

He grabbed the flyer and pulled it off its wood perch and began to daydream about the ball. Maybe he could do something he never dared to do... wear a dress. He smiled wider. Go big. A _gown_. With glitter. And maybe a tiara.

Sadly, Angel's fantasies were cut short by the sight of his family as he walked into the loft. Roger, being oddly out of character, was conversing with a beautiful, dark man. Angel gasped. He could feel the sparks that came when he saw this mysterious person, and needless to say, he liked them.

Mark, who sat next to sparky, said, "Hey, you got food. Make something."

Angel nodded. He began to prepare some sandwiches for lunch and Roger added, "This is our friend, Collins."

Angel whispered, "Hello, Collins. I'm Angel."

Collins smiled. "I see. Pleased to meet you."

Angel heard his flyer fall one of his bags and onto the table. Collins picked it up. He laughed. "Hey! Benny's party! You guys are going, right?"

Angel sighed. He obviously was referring to Mark and Roger.

"That thing? Sure," Mark said.

Maureen entered. "Going where?"

"Benny's shindig this Friday," Collins said. He looked at Angel. "How 'bout you, Angie?"

Angel blushed. "Me?"

"Him? At that thing!" Maureen exclaimed, "_No way_!" She began to laugh. "He has to clean out the stove."

Angel's heart sank. "Right."

Collins looked a little sad. "Oh? Are you sure you can't give him a day..."

"No!" Maureen screeched, "He can't. That's final."

Collins looked at Angel and mouthed, "I'm sorry." Angel shrugged and left the room. He wiped away at his tears like all beat down children in Disney movies and sighed. "No way in hell would he give me a chance anyway..."

He sat alone for a good half hour, until Mark walked in. He looked at Angel and yelled, "What the hell is wrong with you!"

Angel sighed. "I can't tell you."

Mark snorted. "Why am I not surprised? You're such a freak!"

Angel nodded. "You're right, Mark, I _am _a freak. I don't find enjoyment in making people's lives a living hell."

Mark laughed. "You know what Roger always says? You're really a Devil! That's why you're cleaning instead of going to that ball! Don't think I didn't notice you slobbering all over Collins. Fag."

Angel turned away. "Okay. I get it. I'm scum. Will you go away?"

Mark nodded. "Just reminding you!"

He shut the door and Angel began to cry again.

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The week, through short, was painful for Angel. He had to create two beautiful suits for Roger and Mark, and a gown, his dream gown, for Maureen (which was horribly tedious. Her corset had tons of beads and was a bitch to tie up). On top of that, he had to make matching masks to complement the outfits. He felt horrible that such beautiful creations had to go to waste.

They left without even saying goodbye, leaving Angel alone. He began to sob. "It figures!" he exclaimed, "I can't do that!"

"Don't say that!" yelled a voice.

Angel looked around and gasped. Standing at the doorway was a beautiful Hispanic woman with long brown curls, a vinyl bra, and matching hot pants. She had a pair of translucent fairy wings and a determined smile. "Hello, Angel! I'm Mimi, your fairy godmother!"

Angel raised his eyebrows. "Uhm, okay. Two things. _I'm _the fairy around here, and aren't fairy godmothers supposed to be sweet old ladies?"

Mimi groaned. "Look, sweets, take it or leave it."

Angel sighed.

She unsheathed her wand and raised it over her head. "Okay. Let's get real here. Are you going to get to the ball any other way?"

Angel shrugged. "Fair enough. What the hell are you going to do?"

"Help you, of course!" Mimi chirped, walking around. "Lesse... first... it's all about appearance at these things... superficial fucks..." She pointed her wand at Angel and a suit wrapped around him. Angel looked at it, trying to hide his cringe.

"You hate it," Mimi said, dead.

"No! No! I just--"

"We can fix that. What would _you _like, master?"

"...uhm... a dress?" Angel asked, smiling nervously.

"Oh! Okay! That's kinda hot!" Mimi exclaimed, pointing her wand again.

Now Angel was scared. He looked up in a mirror and saw him in a long black wig, a teeny-tiny red and black corset, a micro-mini shredded black skirt, fishnets, and "fuck me" heels. He gulped. "Mimi..."

Mimi snorted with laughter. "Sorry! Sorry! I couldn't resist! That's from my personal collection!" She pointed her wand again. "I have another idea. This might be a little tacky, but..."

Angel was put into a flowing goddess gown with high, white sandals. On his head was a short, bobbed, black wig, and on his back was a pair of huge, white, angel wings.

Angel gasped. "I love it! Oh my God! This is it, Mimi! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweets. But now you need some confidence. Lemme do a little spell..."

"Oh no! Please, don't turn me into a girl!" Angel begged, "This guy... he..."

"No, no, no! I'm not going to do that! Just give you the mindset of one!" Mimi said. She lifted her wand. "Alakazaam, alakazoo, turn this boy into a woman, with make-up to boot!"

Angel shut his eyes and opened them slowly. He had red lipstick, and flawlessly done eyeliner. He smiled... no... she smiled. She was ready.

"You ready to get some?" Mimi asked.

"Honey, I'm ready to get it _all_," Angel said, grinning. She strut to the door. "I'm going."

Mimi added, "There's a limo out there for you. Not a carriage. Sorry, PETA has been on our ass about animal abuse."

Angel laughed. She walked outside and a lovely chaffer named Joanne, helped her into the limo. Joanne said, "To the ball?"

Mimi ran out. "Wait! One more thing. The spell will wear off at midnight! I'm sorry. But it's in the rules. By 12:01 you'll just be _Angel_, that kid cleaning stoves."

Angel nodded, blowing a kiss. "Sweetie, that's more than enough."

Mimi smiled and said, "I hope you like the leopard interior! It's a fetish of mine!"

Angel nodded. "C'mon, Joanne!"

Joanne nodded. "Away we go!"

------------------------------------------------

Joanne helped Angel out of the limo, and nearly had to catch her. Angel was flabbergasted at the site of the hall the ball was in. It had marble fountains of naked Roman gods and everything!

"Wait!" Joanne yelled, "Your mask!"

Angel nodded, taking the feathery mask, and kissing her cheek. "Thank you." She slipped it on and went inside. The lovely people at the front led her in to the mainroom. Angel shoved through the doorway and quickly got lost in the masks. She heard people question who she was and she, for once, felt beautiful. She beelined for the refreshments and as she sipped punch, she saw a man walk up to her.

"My, you're quite the angel," the man said, "An angel of the first degree."

Angel gasped. This man, dressed in a beautiful black and gold suit, had the same voice as Collins. "Uhm... hi!" Angel tried to choke out. Then her personality broke in and she said, confidently, "Hi."

Collins? Said, "Well, let's get out of here and go into the courtyard. I don't know about you, but I find this too crowded for my taste."

They walked to the courtyard. The man laughed. "Oh, I'm Collins, by the way."

Angel shook his hand. "Angel."

"Seriously?"

"Yep!"

Collins sat them down on a bench. "You know, I just want to say, for the record, I think you're beautiful and I wish you would remove your damn mask."

Angel giggled. "But that's against the rules!"

Collins shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't play by the rules."

Angel smiled. "Okay. Take yours off first and then I will."

Collins nodded and removed the mask. Angel smiled and said, "Would you like to take off mine, too?"

Collins nodded and removed the mask. He cupped his hands around her cheek and said, "You look familiar."

Angel shrugged. "You might have seen me somewhere."

He nodded. "Perhaps."

They stared at each other, smiling. "You got nice lips," Angel added.

"Oh? Thank you. You do, too. And you have nice eyes."

They got closer, their legs touching. They began to talk, smiling the whole time. They got closer and closer until their lips were touching. Angel couldn't believe it was happening until he heard the DJ announce, "Hey, everyone! It's almost midnight!"

Angel screamed, "Dammit!" and pulled from Collins.

"What's wrong?" Collins asked, "You gonna turn into a pumpkin?"

"No!" Angel exclaimed, "A man! I'm so sorry, Collins! Bye!"

She got tangled in a shrub and quickly thrust out of it, losing a sandal and her wings. She ran all the way home, barely catching her breath. She laid on her bed, awaiting the spell to wear off and fall asleep.

Meanwhile, Collins collected the mess, confused and hurt. He studied the sandal and wings. He didn't know what happened, but he was determined to find out.

He walked back tot he ball and set up a plan to find his angel.

A few days later, Collins put up signs for a missing sandal and angel wings. He knew that because the sandals were noticeably hand-made, they had to be expensive and one size only.

Angel noticed the flyers and sighed. It was certainly the sandal from the ball. He knew he could go to Collins' apartment, claim it, and bring groceries home without anyone noticing, but the posibility of Collins being able to identify him without the make-up was doubtful.

As he was going through the cereal aisle a few days later, he saw Collins. He tried to keep his head down. He didn't fool the man. "Hey!" Collins said, "How're ya doing?"

"Okay," Angel said, "Still breathing."

"Same here," Collins replied. "That damn sandal I found..."

"I heard."

"It sucks! I mean, I _realize _she wasn't a girl and all... but damn... she was gorgeous. I never really looked at anyone, but her..."

Angel bit his lip and hoped some confidence could come to him. "C-can I look at it?"

"Sure," Collins said, "If you want."

After making their purchases, they went to Collins' apartment. He handed Angel the sandal and said, "Good luck!"

Angel bit his lip and put it on. He smiled.

Collins laughed. "Oh my God! That was you under all that make-up!"

Angel nodded. "Yep."

Collins wrapped his arms around him and smiled, "I can't believe I couldn't realize that in the first place! Of course you're her!"

They kissed. "How did you pull off that outfit! It looks ready to fall off of you!"

"Duct tape," Angel said, "Lots and lots of duct tape."

And after a new wardrobe and a new apartment, I think I can say they lived happily ever after.

**The End**


End file.
